# A years worth of reading. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789 "2005-01-08T22:04:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/1 "2005-01-08T22:04:12Z")
About this time last year I posted a list of 100 best books I’d made up by combining a bunch of lists found on the net. What with ties and one thing and another the list ended up being 159 books long. During 2004 I read the following: Lolita Catcher In The Rye The Great Gatsby Invisible Man 1984 On The Road To The Lighthouse To Kill A Mockingbird One Hundred Years of Solitude Brave New World The Sound And The Fury Lord Of The Flies Heart Of Darkness A Clockwork Orange Beloved A Passage To India 42nd Parrell Things Fall Apart The Sun Also Rises The Naked And The Dead Native Son Brideshead Revisited Women In Love The Wind In The Willows The Age Of Innocense Portnoy’s Complaint All The King’s Men A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man A Farewell To Arms Wuthering Heights Wise Blood Winesburg, Ohio Wide Saragasso Sea Their Eyes Were Watching God The Tin Drum The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie Sophia’s Choice One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Metamorphoses Death Comes For The Archbishop As I Lay Dying An American Tragedy A Room With A View The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz The Sheltering Sky The Heart Of The Matter The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter The Good Soldier Nostromo Madame Bovary Lord Jim Howard’s End Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland Absalom, Absalom A Bend In The River One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Kim Pride and Prejudice Tess Of The Durbervilles Babbit Appointment In Samarra Possession: A Romance The Wapshot Chronicles Tender Is The Night Angle Of Repose Mrs. Dalloway Middlemarch (Halfway through it) Ironweed Deliverance A Prayer For Owen Meany The Bridge Of San Luis Rey Love In The Time Cholora Gulliver’s Travels The Magus Light In August Crime And Punishment Song Of Solomon The Trial Not particulary looking for any special response. Just mostly wanting to gloat, and yes, I’m retired. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/2 "2005-01-08T22:41:05Z")
So, which was the best? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/3 "2005-01-08T22:51:25Z")
How painful was it to read _A Clockwork Orange_ without prior knowledge of Russian? (It was bad enough with it :p) ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/4 "2005-01-09T00:19:27Z")
> [@Paladud](#): > > How painful was it to read _A Clockwork Orange_ without prior knowledge of Russian? (It was bad enough with it :p) I don’t know a lick of Russian and I loved _A Clockwork Orange_. Actually, I didn’t even know many of the words were Russian or derived from Russian until my dad pointed it out. Good grief, that’s a lot of books. Retirement is gonna be sweet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/5 "2005-01-09T00:45:59Z")
Wow! How do you keep track of all the books you read!? The Catcher in the Rye was an awesome book, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/6 "2005-01-09T01:00:13Z")
**Zhao Daoli** > [@](#): > > So, which was the best? Lolita, The Tin Drum, Sophia’s Choice, Catcher In The Rye, and Angle Of Repose were very good. I really enjoyed them from start to finish. **Paladud** > [@](#): > > How painful was it to read A Clockwork Orange without prior knowledge of Russian? (It was bad enough with it Anthony Burgess is English and it was written in English. Perhaps you’re thinking of, “A Clockwork Orangeski.” ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/7 "2005-01-09T01:03:15Z")
Wow, good job! Good idea too, to make a list and stick to it. That’s quite an accomplishment. 🙂 I’ve read about half the books on your list, and wish I had them to read for the first time again. How did you like Winesburg, Ohio? That’s in my TBR pile. I keep a Word list, and only managed 53 books last year. I’d like to plan my reading, but I’ve bought books like crazy over the last couple of years. Mostly I’m just whittling away and trying not to buy any more for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/8 "2005-01-09T01:10:02Z")
You should gloat. Not a beach book in the bunch. I love Deliverance. How did the Magus hold up? Haven’t read that in 15 years or more? Winesberg is one of my favorites. Angle of Repose too. Which authors do you wish to return to? ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/9 "2005-01-09T01:38:38Z")
I didn’t care a lot for “Winesburg, Ohio.” Just didn’t do it for me. Ethen Fromme was great. “The Magus,” was a good read. Well written with interesting characters. It’s difficult seeing it being a success if it were written today though. “Wuthering Heights,” was Craptactular. JESUSHFUCKIN’CHRIST people get a grip on your lives. After reading it I was forced to assume that they charged for printing based on the number of sentences in a book. A typical sentence might be run like this - , , , ; ; : ? , ; . And Madame Bovine wasn’t much better. I haven’t given a lot of thought about which authors to return to yet. There are still a goodly number on the list to get through. I’m putting off, “Don Cornholey,” “Ulysses,” anything by Henry James or Samuel Beckett until the end in the hope that I die before I get to them. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/10 "2005-01-09T01:46:11Z")
Braggart. 😃 I couldn’t even list all that I’ve read. My memory is bad, and I read alot. I’ve read a lot of Bukowski, because for some reason I missed him all these years and I’m now infatuated I’ve read a lot of newspapers, magazines, and crap on the internet. I have a basket of books sitting by my couch that includes: Betting on the Muse–Bukowski Love is a Dog from Hell–Bukowski The Last Night of the Earth Poems–Bukowski White Line Fever-- by Lemmy Kilmister Second Nature–Alice Hoffman Bridal Bargains I’ve read a couple of Elmore Leonard books, and Lord of the Barnyard by Tristan Egolf, a collection of stories by Franz Kafka, and A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, Mystic River, Cruel Shoes, by Steve Martin, Four Seasons by Stephen King, and many more that I cannot recollect right now. I love books. All books. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/11 "2005-01-09T01:47:15Z")
I will also brag and say I’ve got several of the books you’ve mentioned, and have actually read them. Mostly in college. ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/12 "2005-01-09T02:10:43Z")
> [@SandyHook](#): > > Anthony Burgess is English and it was written in English. Perhaps you’re thinking of, “A Clockwork Orangeski.” I’m referring to the made-up slang which Alex uses. A good third of it is very difficult to divine even in context and with knowledge of the root words. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/13 "2005-01-09T02:22:32Z")
> [@SandyHook](#): > > The Great Gatsby > 1984 > On The Road > To Kill A Mockingbird > One Hundred Years of Solitude > Brave New World > Lord Of The Flies > A Clockwork Orange > The Sun Also Rises > A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man > A Farewell To Arms > One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest > Babbit > A Prayer For Owen Meany > Gulliver’s Travels You have good taste. 🙂 Can I have your opinion on these books:\* Invisible Man _(Ellison, not Wells, right?)_ Mrs. Dalloway As I Lay Dying\* I keep a Word list of books I’ve read too. I’m glad I’m not the only one that geeky. 😃 I even rate them on a 1-10 scale so that, years from now, I’ll know which ones are worth reading again. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/14 "2005-01-09T02:33:41Z")
> [@Paladud](#): > > How painful was it to read _A Clockwork Orange_ without prior knowledge of Russian? (It was bad enough with it :p) The edition I read had a glossary in the back that helped quite a bit 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/15 "2005-01-09T03:22:59Z")
**Paladud** > [@](#): > > I’m referring to the made-up slang which Alex uses. A good third of it is very difficult to divine even in context and with knowledge of the root words. Really? Wow, I thought he just made it up himself. I liked the slang, a good touch. It read and sounded to me like some mostly illiterate psycopath-in-training should sound like. Well live and learn. **Nightwatch Trailer** > [@](#): > > I even rate them on a 1-10 scale and Can I have your opinion on these books: > Invisible Man (Ellison, not Wells, right?) > Mrs. Dalloway > As I Lay Dying Yeah, me too. Comes of being an accountant in my case. I have to list everything. The “Invisible Man,” came as a suprise to me. I honestly thought it was going to be the sci-fi book. “Native Son,” was, IMHO, better though. Thought provoking is the best term I can think of at the moment for it. I felt sorry for the protaganist, good ol’ what’s his name. He seemed a decent fellow and everyone shat upon him. “Mrs. Dalloway,” beat the be-jebbers out of, “To The Lighthouse,” which is the best that can be said of it. An interesting study of 1920ish English society might be kinder. But Virginia Woolfe will never be a favorite author of mine. “As I Lay Dying,” was the best of the several Faulkner books on the list. They actually had a recognizable goal to work toward. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/16 "2005-01-09T05:46:35Z")
So you didn’t like some of these books? Did you dislike some of them from the start, but persevered? The reason I’m asking is because I don’t persevere, even with acknowledged good reads. I’ll give it a few chapters, and if it’s not satisfying on some level, I put it aside. Sometimes I go back to it, sometimes not. I had the same problem with Wuthering Heights – the , , ; : , , – my brain couldn’t find a normal reading rhythm. I was hoping it was just the particular edition (Everyman Library). What from the list did you dislike the most? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/17 "2005-01-09T16:02:15Z")
Here’s my 2004 list – I’d rate them all from 7 to 10, except for The Straw Men, which was IMHO overhyped and therefore disappointing. I didn’t list books that I didn’t bother to finish. Most of these writers were new to me. Don Robertson is my new favorite. I think Paradise Falls is The Great American Novel. 🙂 A Fine Balance is the only book I’ve read by an Indian author. I didn’t know how I’d relate, fiction-wise, to such a different culture. The book was incredibly affecting. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood Therese Raquin, The Dram Shop, Germinal, The Earth by Emile Zola The Ideal, Genuine Man, Victoria at Nine, Paradise Falls, The Three Days, By Antietam Creek, The River and the Wilderness by Don Robertson Criminals by Margot Livesey The Innamorati and The Flight of Michael McBride by Midori Snyder Sunset and Sawdust by Joe Lansdale The Straw Men by Michael Marshall The Missing by Thomas Eidson Jean de Florette/Manon of the Springs by Marcel Pagnol Tethered by David L. Martin The Faceless Killers by Henning Mankel Dust by Arthur Slade Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson lost boy lost girl by Peter Straub Winter Queen and Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin Daughter of My people by James Kilgo Dead Man’s Hand by Tim Lebbon Devil in the White City by Erik Larson The Gunslinger (re-read, the revised edition), Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah by Stephen King The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears Stiff by Mary Roach Death’s Acre (by the guy who started the Body Farm) Lover of the Grave by Andrew Taylor Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erickson The Trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd Peace Like a River by Leif Enger Depraved by Harold Schechter Stone Angel and The Fire Dwellers by Margaret Laurence A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry Swords for Hire by Will Allen – Ilium by Dan Simmons Twice Dying by Neil McMahon The Cabinet of Curiosities and Still Life With Crows by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child Sabriel by Garth Nix Charles De Lint by Charles DeLint Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/18 "2005-01-09T16:05:08Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Charles De Lint by Charles DeLint This should have been Waifs and Strays by Charles DeLint. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/19 "2005-01-09T19:08:43Z")
> [@](#): > > What from the list did you dislike the most? “Wuthering Heights,” in a landslide. “To The Lighthouse,” by Virginia Woolfe. The first half was utterly boring. The second have was better and only somewhat boring. I started it and made 25 or so pages before throwing just so something would happen. Picked it back up a couple months later and waded on through. “Mrs. Dalloway,” by VW also was pretty good. After having read Lighthouse it was a major suprise. “A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man,” was a bit of a trial and not enjoyable. I only got through it by constantly reminding myself that it wasn’t very long. “Wise Blood,” “Winesburg, Ohio,” “Death Comes For The Archbishop,” and “The Bridge Of San Luis Rey,” didn’t do it either. Archbisop and Bridge were, in my opinion, just very ordinary and not especially interesting. I can’t see the attraction for any of these four. ---
**Author:** ![Winesburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Winesburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winesburg)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789/20 "2005-01-09T19:45:06Z")
\Winesburg, Ohio\ is my favorite book ever. 😃 I’m working on a German translation, in fact. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-years-worth-of-reading/283789.md?page=2)